Sulaiman al-Gharabli clutches his son, four-year-old Abdullah, as waves crash against the makeshift displacement camps on al-Mawasi beach. The 45-year-old Palestinian father of five stares across the Mediterranean, his eyes searching for answers to a devastating question: will he ever return home to his neighbourhood of al-Nasr in eastern Rafah?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has approved preliminary steps to expand Israeli control over Gaza, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has openly advocated for Jewish settlement in Gaza. These developments have fuelled fear among Gaza's 2.3 million residents that their displacement may become permanent. 

"I can barely keep my family alive from starvation, and now we're suddenly faced with threats of annexing parts of the Strip," al-Gharabli says, his voice breaking as he holds the child closer. "It hits us like lightning—the areas planned for annexation to Israel mean the loss of both present and future."

Over the past 22 months of Israeli military incursion, the majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, many multiple times, and pushed into shrinking pockets of the besieged enclave.

Al-Gharabli has been displaced six times since May of last year, reflecting the growing anxiety among Gaza's displaced population as Israeli statements about creating "security zones" increasingly sound like permanent territorial changes rather than temporary military measures.

On the beach, heated discussions erupt between neighbours, some refusing to believe annexation is possible, others convinced it is inevitable. The debates grow louder as families grapple with the potential loss of everything they've ever owned.

During a brief ceasefire three months ago, al-Gharabli glimpsed his former neighbourhood from afar. He found the building containing his apartment and his brothers' homes had been completely destroyed, yet he still clung to the hope that he would be able to return and rebuild one day. 

"With this announced annexation, the occupation is telling us directly: you will not return to your former homes even if they're rubble, and you must search for another place," he explains. "This means displacement of another kind—outside Gaza. They don't want us here, even if we agree to live on rubble and among destruction."

The Israeli Cabinet recently approved measures to maintain long-term "operational freedom" throughout Gaza, signalling a policy shift from temporary occupation to permanent control.

For residents like al-Gharabli, this aligns with his deepest fears.

"You cannot consider the occupation's threats as negotiating tactics," he says, gesturing toward his worn tent. "These are realities they want to establish on the ground, and there's nothing preventing them militarily or politically."

Limited international response

Hassan Abu Ouda, displaced from Beit Hanoun in Gaza's far north, believes the annexation is already underway.

The 38-year-old father of six recalls his latest displacement began when Israel resumed military offensives on March 18, after spending 47 days in Beit Hanoun during the brief ceasefire.

“Israel is unstoppable, especially amidst the world’s silence,” he says.

International responses have been largely limited to diplomatic protests. The United Nations has warned against annexation, while the European Union has reiterated its opposition to any changes to Gaza's territorial status.

However, the United States State Department's statement that it "does not support any territorial changes to Gaza" falls short of concrete action, leaving Palestinians like Abu Ouda feeling abandoned.

Operating a small plastic kiosk selling cigarettes, Abu Ouda left behind the remnants of his home and ten dunums (one hectare) of agricultural land in Beit Hanoun.

"It's true that I'm occupied with providing a livelihood for my children here in al-Mawasi, but I swear by God, my soul and mind are there in Beit Hanoun, where I was born, raised, married, and had my six children," Abu Ouda reflects.

Abu Ouda fears that Israel’s policies aim to destroy the future of Gaza’s generations. “This political decision will shrink Gaza’s already narrow space and leave us living a complex disaster for decades,” he says.

‘The annexation is coming’

Dr. Sami al-Astal, a political analyst and academic at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, says nothing prevents Israel from proceeding with annexation. The systematic destruction across Gaza aligns with patterns observed in other territorial expansions, he notes. 

"Targeted areas are evacuated and destroyed in the north, south, and east of the Strip, under complete military control of the Israeli army and with significant political cover for any such measure from the American administration," al-Astal explains.

Israel’s enforced media restrictions have limited international scrutiny, creating conditions conducive to annexation without documentation.

Ahed Frawana, political analyst and researcher, adds that Israel’s actions are guided by a religious-nationalist agenda, using the current war to pursue long-held territorial ambitions.

”The occupation claims what it's doing is within threats to Hamas regarding negotiations,” Frawana says. “But experience and reality have proven it wants annexation, occupation, control, and displacement. The story of security needs and buffer zones is just a pretext—the truth is it wants lands without residents and adding them to Israel."

Back on al-Mawasi beach, Abu Ouda watches his children play in the sand, praying for Palestinian unity to salvage what remains.

“They want to force us into displacement—not voluntary, but forced. They aim to eliminate all means of life and push us out,” he asserts.

While al-Gharabli, still holding his son as evening approaches on the beach, voices what many displaced Gazans now fear: "Will we live the coming period in tents on the beach? Will our children's present and future be lost, and will our fate become continuous displacement or forced migration?"

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.